I recently went to meet Stephen Morrison at Complete Life Fitness. I’d been speaking with Jamie at York Mind about men’s mental health and wellbeing, and she said ‘you’ve got to go meet Stephen’.
Stephen’s studio is just up the road from me, opposite Manor School, Nether Poppleton. It’s pretty swanky, despite its compact size. I felt like I was in the personal training space of a football club. And I was really excited to hear about Stephen’s understanding of, and dedication to, physical and mental wellbeing, and how sports and exercise can positively contribute to both. So, as often happens when I’m meeting passionate people, we started toying with an idea:
How could we make personal training affordable for guys in York?
This conversation resulted in Social Circuits – a weekly exercise class for men of all ages, shapes and sizes across York – expertly delivered by Stephen. We teamed up with the awesome team at Yorkey Dads to help us spread the word and started off this month on Acomb Green, under the streetlights. Not very glamorous, but it’s fresh air and a great vibe. He pushes us hard enough, but the beauty of circuits is you go at your own pace. There’s constant laughter, banter and morale support. And it’s not unusual for guys to be stood around talking for up to half an hour afterwards. As winter draws in, Stephen has kindly offered us use of his studio.
All of this is being sponsored by Social Vision. We pick up Stephen’s bill – allowing him to continue to make a living and be rewarded for his expertise – and for us to reinvest our profits in removing money as a barrier to anybody being fit and healthy – both mentally and physically.
This means, for now, sessions are completely free of charge for everyone. This creates healthier, happier residents and ultimately makes York a better place.
Our ambition is to roll this out to other areas of the City – gyms, parks or open spaces and make it sustainable through attracting additional sponsors.
Here’s how you can get involved:
- If you’d like to take part in a session, follow Yorkey Dads on Twitter for updates
- Do you own a leisure venue where we could hold one of our sessions? Drop me a line – joe@social-vision.org.uk
- Fancy sponsoring or financially supporting our sessions? Drop me a line – joe@social-vision.org.uk
